A new and efficient method for the preparation of tert-butyl 2-((4R,6S)-6-((E)-2-(4-(4-fluorophenyl)-6-isopropyl-2-(methylsulfonyl)pyrimidin-5-yl)vinyl)-2,2-dimethyl-1,3-dioxan-4-yl)acetate (3) was developed starting from p-fluorobenzaldehyde (1) and ethyl isobutyrylacetate (2).  The development of this new method as well as its application to the synthesis of HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors will be presented.